All About China > Your trip to China

Livable China, an 'enjoyable' life

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JohnB:
Due to unforeseen events very recently, there is a distinct probability I will be moving to China sometime soon; likely, within the next calender year. There are the few members here who reside somewhere within China and it seems to me that most of these guys really enjoy their stay. There also are a few members that have had lengthy stays there for whatever reason that presented..most being their wives had immigration problems. 
What I am trying to do is pick your brains for anything of value that presents good living in China.

My wife is from Fushun in Liaoning Province. Fushun is not exactly what I would call Shangri- La.  I have been other places much nicer...maybe all other places in China are much nicer. The thing is Jing is from Fushun & our China family lives there.
I like Shenyang, the provincial capital adjacent to Fushun. I understand Dalian to the south is beautiful. Jing mentions that place as very nice. There is always Beijing. I like. The thing is the Winters are not friendly. Cold & dirty air. Summers, hot & humid. Zhuhai looks very nice. Willy is near. Says Zhuhai a bit more expensive. All things concerned, Zhuhai maybe worth it. Jing has inlaws in Kunming. I Understand very nice...eternal Spring & clean air. Shenzhen? Guangzhou... Garry & Brett have been beating that place. Not one place fits all good things.

There is mention of many different cities. The pluses & minuses. I want to pick your brains on what experiences you may have had that determined your decision  on where to live in China or what friendly thoughts you have on some city that interests you.

All in all, I look forward to read what the members have to say about the different cities in China.

Neil:
My favorite city, the one I would live in if I really could, is Lijiang, Yunnan Province.  There is a decent foreign population, lots of tourism, and the air is the cleanest I've experienced.  It can get cool in the winter, and hot in the summer, similar to the part of Canada that I live in now.  The people there were wonderful, and there is plenty of forests and parks nearby. 

Kunming was nice, but was a massive city.  It seemed a bit too large for me.  We really only passed through Kunming though, so I can't say for sure. 

Robertt S:
I am partial to Qingdao for obvious reasons, but the weather is tolerable, the air is clean, and the food is good!

Here is more info.   http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/shandong/

brett:
Guangzhou drives me crazy some times. On the other times we have a great airport, great public transport infrastructure and it's easier to buy foreign foods here. There are also plenty of jobs. And it's a tourist's dream as there's so much crazy stuff to see. Mind you, nobody ever seems to come here on holiday. The only tourists I've seen are those looking for the train to HK.

To have a really good standard of living here I guess you need to have an income of around $1200 a month. Once you've been here a while you can find all kinds of ways of living more cheaply.

I've slashed my expenditure by cooking virtually all my meals at home. I hate most Cantonese food - I just wasn't brought up to suck the meat off bones and eat bits of tree. Now I cook a lot of Italian stuff as it's about the easiest to buy ingredients for. Hubei food is good but I can't eat spicy stuff every day.

Housing is the main cost but I'm impressed with the size of the average Chinese apartment here in Gz.

A lot of stuff isn't that cheap here. Food might be cheap but it's often low quality. Most of my vegetables seem to go off in a day, and my Chinese made shoes fell apart after 6 days.

Don't neglect the Chinese weather. I went to Shanghai in January and it was so cold! It wasn't even below freezing but the dry air made it feel much colder than the UK. Even here in Gz right now it's actually not that warm considering it's now May.

Beijing's air and weather are both bad plus you've got to put up with people spitting on buses and elsewhere.

I heard Zhuhai is nice but a little boring. Still, the new high speed train to Guangzhou and beyond is nice.

If you don't need to work downtown there are some nice out of town developments in Guangzhou. I had a look round one - there was a steam garden and a heck of a lot of marble.

Oh well, drop by if you're ever in Guangzhou!

Willy The Londoner:
What we have to realise is that John B is not far off my age and I doubt if he is looking for a lively night life.  Working will not be a need for him.  I think he is heading into that time where a quiet married life is more important

The north of china is too cold in Winter for people of my age! Westerners are not prone to sit watching the TV at night wearing three sweaters, an outdoor coat and a woolly hat and using the remote with gloves on is a no no!  For that reason alone I would recommend coming south.  My father in law loves to spend the winter down south and he only lives half way up the country.

I can only talk about Guangdong Province.  Guangzhou and Shenzhen has too much traffic. 

Zhuhai has banned motor cycles and that is a plus but prices for home both buying and renting are more expensive in Zhuhai than Zhongshan  but both of these places are cheaper than Guangzhou or Shenzhen.
However there is no heavy industry in these two place and both have clearer air. Zhuhai has a sea front and both have ferries that go direct to Hong Kong Airport where you get a greater choice of flights to anywhere in the world.  Macuau is a bus ride away so you have a mini vegas on the doorstep almost.

I would recommend if you come here then you try to make it down south.

Willy

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